W14-4: This case study is one of a series of five investigations of projects conducted by nonprofit organizations to preserve affordable rental housing in the United States. These profiles were undertaken to illuminate the characteristics of subsidized housing and the process by which they are preserved — that is to say, refinanced and renovated. The five subjects of the case studies were selected to represent a variety of geographic locations, communities, and real estate markets; a range of types of tenants: e.g., family, elderly, and formerly homeless; and different types and sizes of nonprofit owner organizations. Each case explores the history of the particular property and its locale; the history of the organization that owned the property and how it came to own and preserve the property; the methods and challenges of renovating and refinancing the property; and the overall results of the preservation effort. The five profiles in preservation are part of a larger research project supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, whose support the Joint Center for Housing Studies gratefully acknowledges.

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A decade of unprecedented growth in the rental housing market may be coming to an end. Fewer new renter households are being formed, rental vacancy rates have risen, and rent increases have slowed. At the same time, renter demographics are changing and nearly 21 million households continue to pay more than 30 percent of their income for rent.